Four suicide attacks killed at least 29 people and wounded 65 in Bodo, Cameroon, which is a popular target for Boko Haram.
No group has taken responsibility for the bloodshed, but officials suspect Boko Haram militants.
Two bombers attacked the central market while the other two bombers took out “the town’s main entrance and exit points.”
“We have information the four bombers came from Nigeria. We are investigating where they spent the night before attacking the market,” said Governor Midjiyawa Bakari.
Cameroon has seen an influx of attacks by Boko Haram, which is based in neighboring Nigeria, as the radical Islamic group is determined to expand their own caliphate in Africa.
In August, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari demanded his military destroy Boko Haram in three months. Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigeria since 2009, killing over 20,000 and spreading into Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. The attacks have displaced over 1.5 million people.
On Christmas Eve, Buhari asserted the military met its deadline and had won the war against Boko Haram, since the terrorist group could allegedly no longer launch massive attacks.
“I think, technically, we have won the war,” he said. “Boko Haram is an organized fighting force, I assure you, [but] we have dealt with them.”
Yet, only a week later, female suicide bombers attacked Maiduguri and killed over 80 people.
The attacks continued, spreading into neighboring countries Chad and Cameroon.
In late December, a woman bombed a town in Cameroon’s north region. Other Boko Haram militants encircled three food trucks, but did not kill anyone.
Boko Haram’s usual targets include churches, markets, and populated areas. However, militants have been attacking mosques along the Cameroon and Nigerian border, which has led to Muslims and Christians uniting to protect each other from the terrorists.
Last Monday, the terrorists attacked a fifth mosque during morning prayers on Monday, using a 14-year-old boy and killing four people.
“I feel frustrated seeing my brothers and sisters dying. I must act while praying to God to send his angels and warriors to fight Boko Haram because he is the merciful God of armies,” explained Joseph Klofou of the Protestant Church of Cameroon.
“I am out to fight because Boko Haram is a group of bad people. Islam condemns all that they have been doing to both Christians and Muslims who are all God’s creatures even though they have religious differences,” declared Djafarou Alamine of the central mosques.
On January 13, female suicide bombers blew up a mosque near the Nigerian border, which killed twelve innocent civilians. Midjiyawa Bakari, the governor of the region, reported the attack “reduced” the mosque to ashes.
Last September, Amnesty International reported Boko Haram killed more than 400 civilians in Cameroon since 2014.
“As Boko Haram has brought its violence to Cameroon, civilians have come increasingly under fire,” stated Alioune Tine, the organization’s director for West and Central Africa. “By killing indiscriminately, destroying civilian property, abducting people and using children as suicide bombers, they have committed war crimes and caused untold fear and suffering to the civilian population.”
Nigerian authorities arrested Jarasu Shira, a high-ranking member of Boko Haram, and ten other suspected militants on January 22 in Damboa as he attempted to ride a bus to Lagos. Witnesses claime the man disguised himself as a cowboy.
Officials have linked Shira to the kidnapping of 200 young girls from Chibok in April 2014. Unfortunately, the majority have not been found and believe terrorists use them as slaves in Sambisa Forest.
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